by Dan Horn and Julie Zimmerman, The Cincinnati Enquirer

by Dan Horn and Julie Zimmerman, The Cincinnati Enquirer

CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati is getting a quick lesson on the environmental impact of palm oil production, thanks to a protester in a tiger costume and two 60-foot banners strung from the Procter & Gamble towers.

P&G and environmental heavyweight Greenpeace have been sparring over palm oil for years.

P&G's own report says only 13 percent of its palm oil consumption last year measured up to environmental standards the company has agreed to meet by 2015. And Greenpeace says it resorted to a protest Tuesday at P&G headquarters only because repeated conversations with the company haven't led to change.

P&G, one of the world's largest consumers of palm oil, says it's doing all it can to buy the product from suppliers who don't abuse the environment.

Environmental groups, however, say their protest Tuesday, which involved at least nine activists rappelling from the company's towers, was a made-for-TV stunt with a purpose: Bring this international fight to P&G's doorstep. Literally.

"We never do this as a first resort," said Joao Talocchi, a leader of Greenpeace's palm oil campaign. "It only happens when we get to the point we don't see any kind of serious commitment from the company."

The battle over palm oil production has intensified in the past decade as demand for it skyrocketed. As a result, producers around the world, most notably in Indonesia, have cut down huge swaths of tropical forests to make way for oil palm plantations, scarring the land and endangering animals.

Palm oil, which comes from the palm's fruit, has become increasingly popular around the world as consumers have demanded more all-natural ingredients and fewer chemicals in their cosmetics, food, shampoo and cooking oil.

Production in Indonesia increased by almost 11 million tons from 2000 to 2009 at a cost of 340,000 hectares of forests, according to the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research group. Greenpeace says that translates to a loss of land equivalent to 140 Olympic-sized swimming pools every hour.

Several companies, including P&G, tried to address the environmental problems associated with production a few years ago by committing to standards from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a collaboration of industry and environmental groups. The goal was to identify and use suppliers that harvest palm oil without harming the environment.

P&G says it is working toward fulfilling those standards and expects to meet them by next year.

"We agree that deforestation is a significant issue, which is why we are committed to the sustainable sourcing of palm oil," said company spokesman Paul Fox.

Talocchi said Greenpeace isn't trying to kill the palm oil industry. He said the group recognizes it's a popular product and that it can be sustainably grown and harvested.

Talocchi said it has had email exchanges and face-to-face meetings with company executives since 2007.

"They don't know where down the chain their palm oil is coming from," Talocchi said.

P&G would not discuss Greenpeace or its palm oil business beyond the statement from Fox on Tuesday.

An observer from outside the palm oil fray said P&G executives may have thought they had sufficiently addressed the issue only to find expectations had changed.

A few years ago, the Roundtable standards might have been enough, said Joel Makower, chairman of GreenBiz Group, a California-based firm that helps businesses become environmentally sustainable. But now groups like Greenpeace are "pushing the goal line farther and farther back and making companies constantly reassess how good is good enough."

"I don't believe P&G is trying to shirk responsibility here," said Makower, who has been complimentary of P&G's environmental efforts in the past. "But they may have bet on the wrong horse."

Greenpeace upped the ante three weeks ago when it published a report that tracked the palm oil supply chain and connected several P&G suppliers to deforestation and other environmental problems.

The banners the group unfurled Tuesday summed up the claims made in the report. One read: "Head & Shoulders: Wipes out Dandruff & Rainforests," the other, "Head & Shoulders: Stop Putting Tiger Survival on the Line."

P&G isn't the only company in the sights of environmentalists on this issue, but it is the biggest.

"When we talk about corporate consumers that can influence the market, P&G is one of the largest," Talocchi said.

Makower said Greenpeace's role is significant because the group is well-organized, internationally known and does more than just complain.

Its report on P&G's palm oil suppliers included aerial surveillance photos and first-hand accounts from plantations.

"There's always a good cop/bad cop dimension, and Greenpeace is the quintessential bad cop," Makower said. "They're very effective. They don't enter these things willy-nilly. They do deep research."

Although most Americans may not have paid much attention to the palm oil fight going on in Indonesia, Makower said P&G shouldn't assume that will always be the case.

"If I was P&G, I would not keep my head down and hope that this goes away," he said. "It's not going to go away."